Fyffes trades heavily amid stake-building rumours

Dublin Report: Fyffes caught the imagination of the market more than any other stock yesterday, as rumours of stake-building came to a head. About 6.5 million shares changed hands on the day, with this coming on top of the sustained heavy volume recorded over the past few weeks.

Accepted wisdom is that one of the State's more astute property millionaires is buying in with an eye to the fruit firm's planned property spin-off. The theory is that the €200 million in property Fyffes is set to transfer to the new Bluestone company could be worth a lot more.

Fyffes shares rose by 10 cent to close at €2.38 last night.

Elsewhere, volumes tailed off a bit in Independent News & Media, but four million shares still managed to change hands. The stock climbed by three cent to €2.71, with investors still mystified as to the intentions of new shareholder, Denis O'Brien.

Elsewhere, Abbey provided the only official newsflow on the market after issuing first-half results, which some analysts said came in beneath expectations. The housebuilder fell by 20 cent to €10.30.

McInerney, which will update the market next Thursday, fell by 27 cent to €10.85.

Grafton was firm in advance of today's trading update, gaining eight cent to close at €9.35.

Kingspan was boosted by a positive statement from UK peer, SIG. The Cavan-based firm rose by three cent to €11.11.

The main banks were reasonably quiet, with price movements fairly limited. Anglo Irish was an exception, falling by 18 cent to €13.02 after a mild downgrade from NCB. Irish Life & Permanent also broke the mould by rising 32 cent to €17.32.

AIB rose by seven cent to €18.20, while Bank of Ireland was flat at €13.65.

In food stocks, IAWS shares climbed by 31 cent to €13.14. Greencore, which is also seen by some as a property play, closed three cent higher at €3.78.

Elan added 35 cent to close at €13.05 amid expectations that Tysabri could be back on the market soon.